A few words about the rest of my words.

Evils

This is my baby boy and my dog in the hotel room we are using for running water. We noticed water seeping up through the floor of our house a couple weeks ago and figured with all the cold weather we had a pipe burst. So we did what any homeowner would do, we called the insurance company and if you must know our insurance policy is through State Farm.

Before I tell my story first let me say this, the local office has been great, the contractor they sent out has been very helpful, and the adjuster was very friendly. After the first call a plumber was sent out the same day, he made his assessment and proceeded to get photos. The damage was worse than initially thought. The water completely flooded the closet, bath and kitchen, it also made it into the bedroom and living room, damaging the carpet there. We called the insurance back and they schedule water mitigation for the next morning. The same day water mitigation installed their fans we were booked a hotel room. It’s nice for a hotel room, but it’s not home.

Week next week brought more snow and ice to the area delaying things further and keeping the contractors and insurance company busy. The fans and dehumidifiers were removed from the house, but still no water. then I waited for an appointment with the adjuster. The appointment was earlier this week, as I said she was very friendly. The contractor came out to include his quote and assessment.

Here is what I know has to happen, the pipe is being rerouted along the side of the house, this is direct cost to me, as insurance definitely will not cover this since it’s outside the house. So a trench has to be dug, by hand due to gas lines, from the main to the house. The vanity and tub in the bath have to be moved in order to jackhammer into the concrete slab and run the pipe into the house. The vanity and tub have to be moved back after that is complete, and the closet will need to have some sheet rock replaced and repainted. Additionally the carpet will need be replaced in the closet, bedroom and living room. In the kitchen the kick boards on the cabinets need to be replaced due to exploratory holes (1″ diameter) being drilled in over a dozen spots.

Later the same day the adjuster was out I got a call from the contractor. He told me that the insurance company is under the impression that the damage to the pipe was caused by natural settling, and that they will not cover any of the damages due to this. This leaves me in a bind.

If everything is covered it will cost me $1000 plus the cost of the pipe replacement, if none of this is covered it will cost me the entire job, which I’m going to ask for a copy of the itemized quote, but for now I estimate to be around $5000, which is probably low, but I’ve started a GoFundMe campaign. If you can and would like to help, please go here gofundme.com/ooxibg. Feel free to share this link or this blog with anybody you know. The more of you generous people that see this or the GoFundMe campaign page, the quicker we can get our house back to normal.

Thank you, even if you can’t donate, thank you for your consideration and for reading my story.

Update: My wife has just informed me that the insurance has approved our claim and the work will start Monday. This still leaves the deductible and the work on the pipe outside the house.